Abstract
In this work, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) composed of small-pore zeolites with various topologies (CHA (Si/Al = 5), LTA (Si/Al = 1 and 5), and Rho (Si/Al = 5)) as dispersed phase, and the hugely permeable poly(1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne) (PTMSP) as continuous phase, have been synthesized via solution casting, in order to obtain membranes that could be attractive for oxygen-enriched air production. The O2/N2 gas separation performance of the MMMs has been analyzed in terms of permeability, diffusivity, and solubility in the temperature range of 298–333 K. The higher the temperature of the oxygen-enriched stream, the lower the energy required for the combustion process. The effect of temperature on the gas permeability, diffusivity, and solubility of these MMMs is described in terms of the Arrhenius and Van’t Hoff relationships with acceptable accuracy. Moreover, the O2/N2 permselectivity of the MMMs increases with temperature, the O2/N2 selectivities being considerably higher than those of the pure PTMSP. In consequence, most of the MMMs prepared in this work exceeded the Robeson’s upper bound for the O2/N2 gas pair in the temperature range under study, with not much decrease in the O2 permeabilities, reaching O2/N2 selectivities of up to 8.43 and O2 permeabilities up to 4,800 Barrer at 333 K.
Highlights
Oxygen production from air separation can be used in many chemical and environmental applications such as medical devices, steel, and chemical manufacturing as well as in the combustion enhancement of natural gas and coal gasification [1]
In this work, the membrane materials that presented the best CO2 /N2 gas separation permselectivity have been selected to study their performance in the O2 /N2 separation. These membrane materials consist of matrix membranes (MMMs) prepared from the highly permeable glassy PTMSP polymer and small-pore chabazite (Si/Al = 5), Rho (Si/Al = 5), and LTA (Si/Al = 1 and 5) zeolites
We studied the effect of these fillers, with different topologies, in pure O2 and N2 gas permeability tests under the same temperature range as in previous studies, namely, 298–333 K
Summary
Oxygen production from air separation can be used in many chemical and environmental applications such as medical devices, steel, and chemical manufacturing as well as in the combustion enhancement of natural gas and coal gasification [1]. Commercially available polymeric membranes are not able to economically produce O2 purity on a large scale compared to conventional techniques, due to the fact that most commercial gas separation membranes are based on low permeable polymers with large selectivity, which increases costs and space requirements [6]. In this work, the membrane materials that presented the best CO2 /N2 gas separation permselectivity have been selected to study their performance in the O2 /N2 separation These membrane materials consist of MMMs prepared from the highly permeable glassy PTMSP polymer and small-pore chabazite (Si/Al = 5), Rho (Si/Al = 5), and LTA (Si/Al = 1 and 5) zeolites. The effect of these fillers, with different topologies, in pure O2 and N2 gas permeability tests under the same temperature range as in previous studies, namely, 298–333 K
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